Senior Profile: Ava Jahn '24

          A leader, mentor, athlete, and scholar: V Former Ava Jahn embodies the Lawrenceville spirit as a pivotal member of the community who inspires others to achieve success throughout Lawrenceville and beyond. 

          Jahn is a committed athlete who not only brought her passion for swimming to Lawrenceville’s Swim and Dive team, but also served as the team’s captain for two consecutive years. Though swimming is a grueling sport, Jahn feels that “[she] [grew] bonds with people on the swim team that [she] probably wouldn’t have thought [she] would grow close with outside of swimming” as a result of the hard work and camaraderie formed inside the pool. For this same reason, she wishes that she had continued playing water polo, which she had dropped during her III Form year to focus on swimming. Jahn also co-founded the Learn to Swim club and has served as a lifeguard. 

          Additionally, Jahn developed exercises for the elderly that simulated swimming while seated in a chair. She used the stipend she received from the William Bouton Welles Award to create a program for senior citizens as a means to help them stay active, even without access to a pool. As the project concluded, Jahn shared the workout with numerous local nursing homes and care centers. 

          Jahn is a leader and mentor in other groups across the campus as well. Beyond the pool, she is a Ropes Course Instructor who helps new students connect and build friendships in a comfortable setting. Jahn also helped support Lawrenceville’s newest community members by serving as a prefect in the Dawes House. During Covid-19, she felt disconnected from the II Form boarders because she was not allowed inside the House due to the social-distancing restrictions. As a result, Jahn applied to be a prefect to “help new students transition into their Lawrenceville lives and interact with other II Form students in the way that [she] didn’t get the chance to [experience].” 

          Even after spending time helping others, Jahn has remained a strong scholar. She emphasizes that time management is key to performance, but building in self care and socialization is equally important; after all, the little moments are what matter. Jahn believes that students have to engage with the Lawrenceville community to recharge. 

          As Jahn prepares to depart from Lawrenceville, she wishes that, though she was part of many wonderful communities such as the All Arts Council, she also carved out more time to get to know the faculty as “a lot of the teachers here have really unique stories.” Jahn’s love for getting to know others has opened her to a plethora of new opportunities and groups. She appreciates her time spent in many Lawrenceville communities, which has allowed her to meet friendly faces all across the campus. She advises students to “try new things you may feel uncomfortable with” because then you can find new people within the community to befriend.